BamaDC's Mentor Group v3.0 - CLOSED (Page 11)

Don't feel bad. I just had to purge my race schedule and empty almost everything before April. B/c of it, I'm getting a DNS in Feb. So, now I have 2 DNS in 2 years...

No Mercedes?  That stinks!  I had one DNF (Race for the Cure) and one DNS (Vulcan) late last year.  Hated it, but you gotta do what you need to.

That mid-May date better stay firm, though! ;-)

Is everything okay? 

If I don't get in some better training over the next 3 weeks, I'll be a DNS.

Edited by BamaDC 2011-01-13 9:30 AM

I've slacked off majorly after my HM.  I've got to get back on the running kick, to get my next HM behind me in March.  If I don't start running, I'll be a DNS or a painful 13.1 miles.

Ack!  3 DNS declarations?!

What? Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!

And it ain't over now. 'Cause when the goin' gets tough...

The tough get goin'! Who's with me? Let's go!  Hooooooooo.....

(This is a pep talk, in case you missed it).

No DNS here, boys.  I have already paid for it - locked in.  140 miles planned for this month.

Edited by sand101 2011-01-13 10:04 AM

Nothing like a little Animal House to get you back on track.

All is good here, I just need to get out and run.  I looked back at the last few weeks, I've had 2-3 slack weeks, and some with 15-20 miles running, which isn't too bad.  I need to be logging around 20-25 right now.  Was hoping to keep my 25 miles as a base.

Don't be too hard on ourself.  I just took a week and a half off because I was feeling really beat up.  I've started training for my HM this week and feel much better because of the time off.  I'm a firm believer that your body needs down time to recover and it's alright every once in a while as long as you don't get carried away.

Plenty of time.  You can get a good wrap up to this week along with three more strong weeks and then a week to taper.  Perfect timing as that would be the perfect week for a step back week, anyway.

Yea, work is getting in the way. I'm having to go to a school for work and it starts the Saturday of Mercedes Weekend.

Worse yet is that it's on Sat from 9-6, AND Sun from 8-3. Starting Feb 12 and going through March 20.

Yea, not cool. But, work pays the bills and lets me play!

Good news!  I found the pool last night!  Maybe with some luck I'll find my bike next week...

Yeah, and how was it?

I found it this morning and it gave me quite the punishment for ignoring it...

Now, I did see my bike this morning on the way out of the house, and it was giving me an evil grin. I don't think it wants to be friends...

I'm pretty tired and a little sore but it felt good.  It's a group class (which based on low enrollment is probably going to be more like semi-private lessons) so I took more liberal rests between sets.  After warming up and doing some drills I knocked out 4x100 and 400.  Since I haven't swam since Sept I'm pretty happy.

My coach was giving me a hard time about bi-lateral breathing.  Is it really that important?

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My coach was giving me a hard time about bi-lateral breathing.  Is it really that important?

Goodness NO.  Did he give you a hard time because you do OWS or because he thinks bilateral is the right way to train and race?  If he says that it helps your form then reach into your bag and throw some crap at him.  Good form can be had in many different ways - bilateral is anything but necessary.

It *is* a good idea to do some work where you breathe bilaterally or to the opposite side.  If you end up in an OWS with the waves coming the wrong way it is nice to have the skill set to deal with it.  That is a rarity, though, so you shouldn't put it super high on the list.  I will typically do 100yds of left side breathing per workout.  Close to a race I'll add in another 100 or 200 of sighting drills.

Is it important - yes, but not really.
Will it help you swim faster - not really.
Will it help you if the OWS chop is bad - sure.
Can you survive if you don't learn it and there's OWS chop - sure.
Does it look pretty and make you a bad a$$ - of course.

Personally, I do it. It's something that's so normal to me, that I have no difficulty with it. I do cheat to the right and find that my comforting side, but I can alternate pretty easily.

And I find it a bit of an advantage when trying to control my tempo or breathing pace, but then it still isn't detremental to the stroke work.

Say for my warmups or cruising, I'll go 5 strokes per breath to keep relaxed - it's odd, so it forces bilateral.

For my upbeat tempos, I may go 3-4 strokes per breath.

But for my sprints, as many strokes I can with as few breaths as possible.

Oh, we tried some new drills today and if you have issues with balance, you should consider them.
-One arm drill with the non used arm by your side instead of out front.
-One arm drill breathing to the opposite side of the pulling arm.
**Both of these will exagerate any "snaking" motion you have and force you to correct it and notice it. It will take core and balance to stay streamlined and make it work.

-6+3 with 1eye. It's a typical 6+3 drill (6 kicks on one side, 3 solid strokes, rotate to the other side for 6kicks, repeat), but focus on keeping the water line inbetween your eyes. One eye should see above water, the other eye under water.
**Most people will fully rotate to their sides to keep their body horizontal. Without the one eye portion, most swimmers are not fully on their side. The rotation is what you're going to want when turning to breathe.

Either way, a good couple of drills from this morning. Just sharing.

Bi-lateral in terms of taking a breath on every odd # stroke or being able to breath on each side for periods of time?  I don't do bi-lateral breathing per the odd strokes, I breath when I need to.  But I do train breathing on one side for periods of time (1 length, one lap, one set, etc).  Where I live very rarely are OW swims flat.  In 2007 I did 3 races that year and each one of them had strong winds with 1-2 foot waves and I was very glad I could swim long periods of time on each side.  I made a point when I started swimming in 2004 to do this from the start so that as I progressed it would be 2nd nature.

Thanks for the input everyone. 

Her reasoning was that for OWS there my be times that you can't breath on just one side.  And also from a training stand point it helps you keep your muscles balanced.  I tried to explain that I only breath on one side when I'm tried.  She then commented that I'd be doing it through the whole session.  To which I replied, "yeah, that's because I started out tired!"

So what's up y'all!?!  I've was out of town and then got a nasty virus and am on the rebound, with the preceeding minor leg injury the good news is that all those little ache and pain deals I was having are all gone!  Decided that my 13.1 PR attempt in early Feb is no longer my focus, simply was not be able to peak the training for it.   There are lots of shorter and competitive run races for me to go after until May so I'm not worried about the run racing and will get back into the mode of tri-training for the June Sprint.  Guess that means swimming and Jorge's V3 plan can start soon!

Funny enough I just got an email today with a great article about bilateral breathing.  I personally don't agree with the assertion that it makes your stroke symmetrical, but the skill set is useful for the other reasons they discuss.

And who knows - you may like it once you try it out. 

On the OWS she is right.  Personally I reject the muscle balance stuff.

I'm sick. It sux! Screwing up my training.

On the muscle balance issue, if you rotate heavily with your neck then yes you need to breath both ways.  If you rotate mostly with your hips then you should be okay.

On the OWS, I think you need to be comfortable with breathing both ways.  Lots of variables, waves, bouys, the sun. Most importantly so can get your timing,  to knock the guy next to you in the back of the head, so he'll quit trying to still your fish.

I feel like someone just ran over me with a truck.

Went out and ran 13.78 this morning (Mercedes Course +1 loop around Railroad Park) and I haven't been this sore in a LONG TIME!

I fought the "heavy leg syndrome" the entire time. I noticed I was fast at the beginning, started severely overheating by mile 4, shed layers, kept running, watered at 4, 7.7mi & 12, gu @ 7.7 & 12 and still felt dead.

Pre race was a G2, 2 mini cliff bars, & a protein shake.

Now, my achilles are tight, my hips are tight, and for whatever reason my abs are sore.

Any thoughts on why this one could've been so dismal?  

You pushed too hard.  The abs hurting are from arm rotation trying to keep your legs moving.

BTW, are they having pre-Mercedes runs every weekend now?  I don't get those notifications, so never know when they are going off.

So trying to shake a cold and this might have been a bad idea. But it was above freezing yesterday for the 1st time in like 2 weeks. High of 50 and it felt like a heat wave. A buddy called and wanted to get outside for a ride. I did to. The ride was going great until about mile 14 when I hit an icy spot in the road. Went down pretty hard. Luckily I sort of felt it developing and was able to basically roll over. My butt is black and blue today. My friend was laughing his azz off. Must have been a funny sight.